scholarly journals Suspecting the Figures: What Church Leaders Think About Government’s Commitment to Combating COVID-19 in Nigeria

2022 ◽  
pp. 002190962110696
Author(s):  
Uchechukwu M. Agbo ◽  
George C. Nche
Keyword(s):  
Public Trust ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Pentecostal Churches

Public trust in government can significantly determine the outcome of health policies in any society. Hence, studies have been gauging peoples’ level of trust in their governments’ commitment and capacity to win the fight against COVID-19. However, these studies have omitted religious leaders. This is despite the fact that religious leaders play key roles in the area of health in many societies. The present study, therefore, explored the opinions church leaders have about the credibility of the COVID-19 statistics and other government responses in Nigeria. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 church leaders drawn from Anglican, Catholic, and Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. A descriptive narrative approach was employed in the thematic organization and analysis of data. Findings show that only one participant expressed confidence in the credibility of the COVID-19 statistics and other government’s responses. The rest, with the exception of one participant who was uncertain, was distributed between those who believe the statistics and other government efforts are exaggerated and those who believe they are false. The study also found that denominational affiliation mattered with respect to the perceptions about the credibility of the COVID-19 statistics and other government responses. Implications of findings for policy and research are discussed.

scholarly journals Youth Conversion from Mainstream to Pentecostal Churches: A Case of Selected Churches in Matero and Emmasdale Townships in Lusaka District

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
Audrey Muyuni ◽  
Austin M. Cheyeka
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
The Church

The study sought to investigate the reasons that led to youth conversion from mainstream to Pentecostal churches in Emmasdale and in the neighbourhood of Matero. The study was guided by Horton’s intellectualist theory of conversion in Africa. It used a case study design. The method of data collection included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaire. Findings of the study were that, there was automatic conversion taking place among the youths in mainstream churches to Pentecostalism. This was evident in all respondents in mega Pentecostal Church who had a mainstream background. Church leaders in mainstream churches were aware of youth converting to Pentecostal churches by accepting back the youths who had converted to a Pentecostal Church but had later made up their minds to go back. The study further revealed that non-Pentecostal parents supported and encouraged their children who converted to a mega Pentecostal Church owing to incentives such as; scholarships, employment and supportive programmes provided to their children. The study recommends that: sermon presentation should be revised in some mainstream churches. Explaining scriptures should not be exegetical only but linking scriptures to real life struggles of the youth. The church leaders in mainstream churches must formulate programmes that are more practical and youth oriented like charismatic prayer service, provision of scholarship, employment and positions of responsibilities through different ministries within the mainstream churches. Non-Pentecostal parents should not be too sceptical about children who associate themselves with Pentecostalism but encourage them to genuinely convert to this brand of Christianity.

An Extraordinary Confession

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. DeJonge
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Church Members ◽  
Nazi Regime ◽  
Jewish Ancestry ◽  
The Church

If the church decides to seize the wheel, to speak the directly political word, Bonhoeffer writes, then the church will find itself in statu confessionis. This chapter examines the phrase status confessionis to shed further light on Bonhoeffer’s idea of the church’s directly political word (the concern of Chapter 7). The phrase originates in a sixteenth-century episode where the emperor, with help from accommodating religious leaders, forced changes in order and rites on the Lutheran churches. The phrase status confessionis came to be seen as the battle cry of those who resisted these changes, the gnesio-Lutherans. In adopting this language, Bonhoeffer identifies a parallel between the sixteenth century and 1933, when Hitler and the Nazi regime threatened to force changes in church order (especially concerning church members of Jewish ancestry) on the church with accommodation from church leaders.

scholarly journals Migrants’ Narratives on Urban Governance: A Case from Kolkata, a City of the Global South

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1009
Author(s):  
Anuradha Chakrabarti ◽  
Reena Tiwari ◽  
Haimanti Banerji
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sustainable Development Goal ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
Ethnographic Methodology ◽  
Thematic Network Analysis

The paper aims to reveal the politics of urban governance and the associated impact on the lives of disenfranchised migrants. It critically explores the urban governance structure and the nature of practices involved in the cycle of settlement, eviction, resistance and resettlement. The case of Nonadanga, located at the urban margin of Kolkata, India, was explored for this purpose. An ethnographic methodology comprising observation, semi-structured interviews and oral history was adopted for the research. Twelve squatter dwellers and four experts working in Nonadanga and Kolkata were interviewed for this purpose. A three-step data analysis comprising a narrative approach, thematic network analysis and validation was adopted. A critical review of inclusive practices, together with ethnographic survey findings, demonstrates that migrants live in a condition the paper calls “partial rights”, which is a manifestation of the dialectics of inclusiveness practiced by the urban governance structure and derived from the interaction between urban governance structure and migrants’ agency. By analyzing past development trends, the paper outlines possible future scenarios for migrants’ living conditions and discusses their impact on achieving the targeted Sustainable Development Goal 11 for inclusive cities by 2030.

Relational influence on entrepreneurial orientation: an exploratory study of small religious enterprises in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Silva Corrêa ◽  
Julio Araújo Carneiro-da-Cunha ◽  
Vânia Maria Jorge Nassif ◽  
Ernesto Michelangelo Giglio
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Competitive Aggressiveness ◽  
Belo Horizonte ◽  
Restricted Use

Purpose Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is highly emerging in the management literature. However, recent studies highlight the necessity to associate with reflections on this theme, usually approached from an economic perspective, propositions also derived from relational approaches. This paper aims to investigate associations between EO and social networks, specifically about the still little explored relational coupling/decoupling theme. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides an empirical and qualitative study of religious entrepreneurs. A total of 18 pastors responsible for creating and leading independent neo-Pentecostal churches located in Belo Horizonte/Brazil, selected using the snowball technique, participated in this qualitative, case-study research. Two analysis categories guided data collection: pastors’ EO (behaviors suggestive of their innovativeness, proactivity, competitive aggressiveness, risk-taking and autonomy) and churches’ social framework (the resources and attributes that pastors obtain from their institutional structure). Findings The study concludes that pastors combine attributes representing their EO and their social structure in developing their religious endeavors. Research limitations/implications Among the limitations are the restricted use of semi-structured interviews as a data collection source and the absence of data proving the churches’ performance. Originality/value The paper contributes by showing that entrepreneurs can influence the structure of their networks by using EO; proving that networks influence pastors’ EO; revealing recursivity between EO and networks; emphasizing a relational dimension of the EO construct and presenting new theoretical propositions that can be explored and tested in future investigations.

By Popular Demand: Revitalizing Representative Democracy Through Deliberative Elections By John Gastil. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. 275p. $48.00 cloth, $18.95 paper.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 637-638
Author(s):  
Christopher Wlezien
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
The State ◽  
University Of California ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Over Time

A growing chorus of academics, journalists, and politicos alike bemoans the state of American democracy. The symptoms are well known. Public trust in government has declined over time, the stock of social capital has shrunk, and turnout remains low. Some observers even argue that politicians now are less responsive to public opinion on various issues. Perhaps understandably, there is increasing pressure for reform of the electoral process, including campaign finance, the conduct of campaigns, media coverage of campaigns, and election rules themselves. In By Popular Demand, John Gastil joins the call for reform, but in an original and provocative way.

The Origins and Consequences of Public Trust in Government

2000 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia A. Chanley ◽  
Thomas J. Rudolph ◽  
Wendy M. Rahn
Keyword(s):  
Public Trust ◽  
Trust In Government

Political Behavior of Religious Elites

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Oldmixon
Keyword(s):  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Opportunities To Learn ◽  
Civic Skills ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Political Milieu

Churches are at the fulcrum of religious politics, and as church leaders, religious elites have an important role to play in the political milieu. They possess many of the resources associated with potent activism, but more importantly their job is to provide guidance to participants in a vast voluntary network. They can engage in agenda setting, encourage the faithful to apply their religious values to political engagement, and create opportunities to learn civic skills. Even so, religious leaders are subject to influence even as they try to exercise influence. In the foreground, religious leaders have a predictable set of goals, the substance of which varies by race, ethnicity, gender, and social theology. In the background, religious leaders pursue their goals in different sociodemographic and institutional contexts. The political behavior of religious leaders, then, is the product of background and foreground balancing.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document